Spike-extractor



ZSheetS-f'Sheet 1.

(Numdam A. P. PROUT.

' SPIKE BXTRAGTOR.

PatentedMay 1,1883.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2..

A. P. PROUT.

SPIKE BXTRA'GTOR. No. 276,877t Patented May 1,1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT P. PROUT, OF VOOD HAVEN, NEW YORK.

SPIKE-EXTRACTR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 276,877, dated 4May 1, 1883.

Application filed January 30, 1883.

To all whom tt may` concern y Be it known that I, ALBERT P. PrtoUT, residing atWood Haven,in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Spike-Extractors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of the same, in which- Figure l is a side elevation, partly in scction, of a spike-extractor containing my improvement; and Fig. 2 is a view ot' the lower end of the same. j

Figs. 3 and et represent a modified form of the claw, combined with a spring which acts to draw the jaws ot' the claw together automatically. The saidmoditied claw consists ot' the two jaws L L', pivoted together at p2, and connected to the arm p3 by the links r r', which at the upper ends arepivoted together and to said arm, and at the lower ends, respectively, to theupper ends of the jaws L L. T is a spiral spring, attached at its ends to the pivotal pins s s. Its action, as is obvious, is to draw said upper ends of the jaws toward each other, and thereby close their lower ends.

This invention is an improvement upon the spike-extractor for which United States Letters Patent No. 254,411 were issued to me, dated February 28, 1882, and also the spikeextractor for Letters Patent for which an application was by me filed in the United States Patent Office August 4, 1882, and allowed October12, 1882; and it consists in the combination of devices hereinafter described and claimed. y

The extractor to which my present improve ment is applied consists of a lever composed of a socket-head, A, with a handle, B, inserted in the socket. On this head are formed two parallel wings, C C', that extend laterally from opposite sides ot' the lever, the lower edges ot' the said wings being curved, as shown plainly in Fig. 1. Between lugs D D', formed on the lower end of the head, opposite to said wings, is hung a swinging claw, E.

F is a swinging shoe, designed to act asa fulcrum when it is desired to draw a spike in such a position that the rail cannot conveniently be used as the fulcrum. In Fig. l the extractor is shown iniposition at the commencement of the operation of extracting a spike, the rail being used as the fulcrum. Infthe po- (No model.)

sition shown it is obvious that the lever is liable to slip off from the rail at the rst movement in drawing a spike. To obviate this slipping, I provide the face of the lower end of the head of the lever, adjacent to the clawhinge, with teeth or sharp edges, tempered so r crum-shoe, it' they are formed on the face of.V

the end of the head Aitself. To this end it is necessary that they should be composed of hardened or tempered steel, while the head A is, for convenience and economy, made of iron or untempered cast-steel. Even if made ot' steel it is still impracticable to temper the surface at the place indicated without at the same time hardening the lugs D D', and thus impairing their strength. For these reasons I drill into the lower end of the lever holes, and insert therein steel plugs, (indicated by the letter a,) preferably two on each side of the claw E, as shown in Fig. 2, although one on each ,side will answer. These steel plugs, roughened into teeth or sharp edges at their lower outer ends, which project slightly below the face ot' the lever, are suitably tempered and driven rmly4 into the holes aforesaid. When the lever is placed either upon the swinging shoe or, as shown in Fig. 1, upon the rail, it is obvious that the said plugs will prevent the slipping of the lever on its fulcruin until the spike is started, but that when the lever l the leverage than it would if the curved edges44 ot' the wings (l C rested directly on the rail or shoe. `As is obvious, this jaw tightens its grip on the spike in proportion as force is applied in drawing it, and the jaws may be IOC 2. The combination, with the described 1ever-head, of the claw represented in Fig. 3,

consisting ofthe pivoted jaws L L', the links 15 r r', pivoted, respectively, to the said jaws and to the arm p3, together with a spring, T, which acts t0 close said jaws, as and for the purpose specified. y

ALBERT P. PROUT.

Witnesses:

A. G. N. VERMILYA, A. S. FITCH. 

